


These echoes like ghosts whisper

by FancifulRivers



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Child Neglect, Gen, Ghost Chara, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-15
Updated: 2016-05-15
Packaged: 2018-06-08 13:43:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6857389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FancifulRivers/pseuds/FancifulRivers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chara's been with Frisk a lot longer than anyone knew.</p>
            </blockquote>





	These echoes like ghosts whisper

**Author's Note:**

> I do not and never will own Undertale.

You can't remember a time when Chara wasn't there.

They look like a ghost- you learned about ghosts one Halloween, during story time at the public library. You can see through them, see the shelves and the wall and the fingerpaint mural. They have reddish brown hair and it's cut kind of like yours is, and their eyes are red (and that should scare you, but it doesn't, it never has), and they have a striped sweater like your favorite, but theirs is green and yellow, not blue and purple. They wear pants, but the ends of the pants kind of dissipate into vapor, and they never walk like you do. They can't. They have no feet, and they float instead.

"So you have to be a ghost," you tell them with a very decided nod, later that night, when you're in bed and your parents are asleep. Chara just looks amused, and tells you if you insist. 

They never do anything bad. They can't interact with anything- you've watched them try, watched the frustration scrunch up their face and heard them say all the bad words you aren't allowed to. You do stuff for them sometimes, but they usually just glare at you until you stop. You think they don't like it because they want to do it for themself. They don't want to be weak.

You know the feeling.

When you're eleven, Chara's excited. You've never seen them so happy. They watch you blow out the candle on the birthday cupcake your next door neighbor gave you (because your parents forgot until it was almost your bedtime and you would never say anything bad about them, because it's not their fault they forgot, you are a very forgettable child, even if the last time you said that, Chara's face reddened and they growled at you to never say that again about yourself if you wanted your family to live, and despite knowing they were a ghost and couldn't hurt them, you hastily agreed), and tell you happy birthday. They  _sing_ it even, in a very pleasant near-baritone.

"Come with me tomorrow," Chara tells you. "I have a birthday present for you."

You perk up a little (how could a ghost give you a present?), and only barely manage to fall asleep. It's cold in your room because your parents haven't turned the heat on yet, so you try to bundle up underneath three blankets.

"Pack your backpack," Chara directs. You frown in confusion. It's a school day, you try to point out to them, but they just shrug. "Do you want your present or not?" they snap.

"Chara, I can't miss school, they'll call my parents," you try to reason with them, but Chara shakes their head.

"Won't matter after today," they tell you, nearly in sing-song. "Come on, Frisk. Do it."

And because Chara has never steered you wrong before- you do.

* * *

You have to take a bus first.

If it wasn't for Chara floating just beside you, you don't think you could have at all. The driver gives you a very long, suspicious look but you smile back at him like you have nothing to hide, and he finally doesn't say anything, just jerks his head for you to go back and take a seat. You're the last one on the bus when it finally stops at the foot of Mt. Ebott, and you hop off as soon as you can, feeling the weight of your backpack thump between your shoulder blades. You don't know why Chara wanted you to pack. Like you were going away. There's nothing here.

"Climb," Chara directs. Heaving a very put-upon sigh, you do.

Very soon, you're hot and sticky and your legs are sore. But Chara keeps urging you on, telling you you're almost to the present, you're almost there, and you find yourself determined to go on anyway. Until you reach the present. 

It's a hole.

Not a very big hole- you think that if you were careful, you could probably lie across the top and not fall in. It's surrounded by moss and leaves and rocks, and looks really... creepy, actually.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Chara asks, tilting their head to one side and clapping their hands. Their eyes are brighter than you've ever seen, and so intense, you feel a bit uneasy.

"What do you mean?" you ask, edging back from the hole. You don't want to fall in by accident.

"Down the hole," Chara tells you. "Your present is down there."

"Chara, this isn't funny," you reply. You're hot and tired and now you're probably going to be in big trouble with the school  _and_ your parents, and now Chara's just  _mocking_ you, because they have to be. You're not Alice, this isn't Wonderland, this is Mt. Ebott, and it has some pretty creepy legends that surround it, and your ghost friend wants you to jump down a hole into god knows what.

No, thank you.

"I'm not joking," Chara says, and they look kind of angry now, too, even angrier than when you asked them about their family before they became a ghost. "Frisk, listen to me. You won't get hurt. Go down the hole."

But you don't  _want_ to go down the hole, you don't know how deep it is or what's down there (what if there's bugs or snakes or  _bears_ , maybe it's some kind of weird vertical bear cave), and you shake your head, backing even further away.

"Why won't you just  _listen_?" Chara shouts, and sort of swoops down at you with their hands outstretched and you know that they can't do anything, because ghosts aren't solid and Chara can't interact, but then you feel a very hard shove in the center of your back and you look up in shock, and Chara looks shocked, too, and you're falling, and before you know it, you've fallen right down the hole-

And then nothing.

* * *

Chara lied, you think muzzily, some time later. You hurt everywhere. You look up and see a small, bright circle somewhere up ahead, so far you have to squint to see it. A  _deep_ hole then. You look down. You're crumpled in the middle of a flower garden. Chara sits (floats) next to you, biting their bottom lip and looking incredibly guilty.

"Frisk, I-" they start, before they fall silent once more, cheeks stained brilliant red.

"I'm sorry," they finally rush to get out. "I just- I don't- I didn't know I could do that."

"I didn't either," you say dryly. It hurts to talk and you frown. How are you going to get back? You need medical care and you don't think the box of band-aids Chara insisted you tuck into your backpack is going to help.

"You need to get up," Chara insists. They sound worried and your eyebrows furrow together. Chara _never_ sounds worried. "There's something-"

"Howdy!" a new voice interjects and you freeze. Is that a talking flower?

"I'm Flowey the Flower," the talking flower says cheerily. It looks like a giant yellow buttercup or something, and it has a  _face_. You stare at it. Did you hit your head harder than you thought? Maybe you're lying unconscious somewhere, making this all up. Maybe you're  _dead_. Are there talking flowers in the afterlife?

"Fuck off," Chara tells the flower. Flowey jerks, before somehow, impossibly, staring at Chara. Your own mouth drops open a bit, too. Flowey can  _see_ them?  _Hear_ them? You've never known anyone else who could interact with Chara. They were your own personal ghost. Like an imaginary friend, but not.

"Chara?" Flowey squeaks, and you've never seen Chara so pale.

"Asriel?" Chara whispers.

You've never seen Chara cry, either.

* * *

They talk for a really long time, rushing and speaking over each other in a torrent of words you can barely make sense of. All you can gather is that Flowey didn't used to be a talking flower and that Chara and Asriel used to know each other- used to be family, even. You just sit to one side, making an impromptu meal out of slightly squashed Hostess cupcakes and a bottle of water that somehow survived the long journey down. You still hurt all over, but the ache is dissipating the longer you rest. Maybe you aren't as injured as you thought you were.

"What about- Mom and Dad?" Chara fumbles out, and you pause because Flowey looks almost  _ashamed_.

"Toriel's nearby," he says instead of answering properly. "You can meet her. You should meet her. You and what's their name." He flaps a leaf in your direction and you frown. You have a  _name_.

Chara looks a little annoyed too as they nearly bite out the words, "Their name is Frisk."

"Whatever." Flowey shrugs. "Come on. I'll take you to her."

But Flowey doesn't need to because there are footsteps and suddenly, there is a monster that looks oddly like a very fluffy goat, who glares at Flowey and raises a hand, as if to hurt him, and you find yourself scrambling to put yourself in the line of fire before you can think.

"Don't hurt him!" you blurt out. From your peripheral, you can see Flowey's mouth drop open. The monster lady looks similarly shocked.

"Don't hurt him," you repeat. "Please."

"But he will hurt you," the monster lady points out. Her eyes are red like Chara's, and you wonder if they're related.

"No, he won't," you say, without knowing if it's true or not. "He's Chara's friend, I think..."

The monster lady gasps like she's been struck and stumbles back, going whiter than a sheet of paper.

"How do you know that name?" she says, and now she sounds angry, a ball of fire forming on one palm. "Did that- that  _thing_ use their name, did he dare-"

"No!" you nearly shout, hurting your throat. "Chara's with me, they're my...ghost friend, I don't know, can't you see them?"

The ball of fire winks out. 

"Chara?" the monster lady whispers, shoulders sagging. "Child? Are you- are you here?"

"Yes," Chara says, floating out from behind Flowey. You want to point out they were  _hiding_ there, but if you do, you're pretty sure Chara will glare at you and call you a snitch. 

"Can you see me?" Chara asks uncertainly. "Toriel? M-Mom?"

Toriel squints.

"They're right there," you say helpfully, pointing.

"I can see...something," Toriel says, hesitant. "They're very faded, and I can hear- a whisper? Chara? Is that you?"

"YES IT'S ME," Chara shouts, right in Toriel's ear, making her jump.

"I heard that," Toriel murmurs.

And then she faints.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I was going to make this a one-shot but it's getting a little long, so it's going to be a two-shot instead.


End file.
